How Capriotti’s Stands Out in a Crowded Segment

Competing with many established brands in the sandwich segment, Capriotti’s focuses less on the size of the brand and more on being the best.

BY BRIGIT LARSON

Since the beginning, the Capriotti’s brand has focused on freshness in its ingredients to help stand out from competitors, even at its first store in Wilmington, Delaware. By roasting turkeys overnight and serving to customers each day fresh, the sandwich shop built a cult following that felt their sandwiches were simply the best. That focus on being the best and staying true to what the brand stands for on top of strategic initiatives in marketing and technology is what keeps Capriotti’s growing consistently nationwide.

The Las Vegas-based franchise is now open in 20 states with 106 units total. According to Chief Development Officer David Bloom, in 2017 alone, they signed 50 franchise agreements and saw an increase in inquiries of 300 percent since 2016. Capriotti’s had openings in multiple new markets this year including Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Georgia and Minnesota and the brand continues to expand in their home market of Las Vegas. Clearly, excitement for the brand and the investment opportunity is catching on and makes it one to keep an eye on.

With so many sandwich shops–franchise or not–available for consumers, what makes them stand out? First and foremost–is the food. It’s all about freshness, and everything that they can make in-house, they will. It’s that extra time put into each ingredient and sandwich that helps make them such a favorite.

“Capriotti’s is able to distinguish itself from other concepts by doing things the hard way. We slow-roast turkeys in-house every night, make our meatballs from scratch, hand-pull our slow-cooked roast beef and make fresh tuna and coleslaw daily. Our cheesesteaks are custom cut for us from the finest grade of beef, and we always cook to order making sure every sandwich we serve is fresh and hot,” said Bloom.

For consumers, the taste, price and convenience are what really counts, but you might be surprised to find out that for those looking to invest in the brand, it’s for the same reasons. Bloom admits, most franchise owners are some of the brand’s biggest fans and that’s why they choose to invest.

“Everybody that joins us starts as Capriotti’s addicts. They love the food and can’t get it out of their minds. They tell us, ‘I’ve been watching you guys and eating your food for years.’ By the time they come to us, it’s because they fell in love with the product and have been very loyal to the brand. We find that people who align with what we’re doing, in terms of focusing on quality–those people really do well in the long term,” said Bloom.

Take it from Chicago franchisee Craig Garofalo, who spent his childhood eating Capriotti’s from the original shop in Wilmington, Delaware.

“It’s one of those things you always remember–those tastes. My dad still lives a mile away from the original store in Wilmington, so the brand is near and dear to me and was always at the top of my list for franchises. We looked at burger and pizza concepts, and other fast casuals, but we kept going back to sandwiches. The stars aligned and it worked out perfectly,” said Garofalo.

Co-owner, Andy Poch, explained why being a part of a smaller brand than a Jimmy John’s or Potbelly has had its benefits. “We didn’t want something where we would be just another number. We can call up corporate and explain what we’re looking for and what we need help with–we didn’t want to be one of thousands,” said Poch. 

The corporate team provides plenty of hands-on support from the beginning. When it’s time to get trained before opening, corporate is there on-site helping franchisees build that family environment for the team all while training franchisees on everything operations.

Bloom explains, “We truly care and are committed to the success of all of our franchise partners. We know that by putting our franchise partners first, we will be building a truly great brand that stands the test of time.”

Although, with less brand recognition than an established brand, the marketing strategy must shift to stay competitive. “The biggest difference between an established brand and an emerging concept is name awareness, marketing muscle and critical mass. When Capriotti’s is entering a new market, like we recently did in Chicago, Atlanta, Nashville and Indianapolis, we know that most people in those markets have never heard of us before. We need to let these communities know about the delicious and craveable food we offer.”

What also keeps the brand moving forward is its innovation and ability to offer products that you can’t find anywhere else in a convenient way to customers. You won’t find folded deli meats at Capriotti’s and delivering their food to customers has become a larger part of the strategy.

“We already know we have a great product with an incredible following; now it’s a matter of offering it to our customers in the most efficient and convenient way possible. We have done so by investing in developing online ordering and delivery,” said Bloom.

A great example of that forward thinking is that fact that the corporate team has worked hard to negotiate nationwide contracts with delivery providers so every owner across the country can opt in at a good price instead of trying to partner with third party vendors alone. As delivery becomes the norm, it’s becoming increasingly important to offer this to customers.

Garofalo touts their success with delivery in Chicago, “We saw a 50 percent sales increase compared to last year when we didn’t have delivery options.”

Staying on trend with the industry is really where Capriotti’s really pays attention to its competitors–looking across the entire fast casual restaurant scene and not just at sandwich shops. That’s just one of the reasons why the brand is positioned for serious growth this year. In 2018, Capriotti’s is gearing up to continue its expansion into mature and new markets nationwide, in addition to certain international markets.